Overview of state of accession negotiations at end of Swedish Presidency

Brussels, 13/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - Here is an overview of the complete results of the ministerial negotiating sessions held in Luxembourg on 11/12 June with the twelve countries candidates to join the EU, as well as the general state of negotiations at the end of the Swedish Presidency (regarding Hungary, see yesterday's EUROPE, pages 6 and 7):

• Hungary closed three additional chapters on Tuesday (free movement of persons and capital, tax policy), which takes the total number of chapters closed to 22;
• Poland closed no additional chapter at Tuesday's session. Total number of chapters closed: 16;
• The Czech Republic closed the "culture/audiovisual" chapter: total number of chapters closed: 19;
• Slovakia closed the "customs union" chapter on Tuesday. Total number of chapters closed: 17;
• Slovenia closed no additional chapter on Tuesday. The number of closures remains unchanged at 20;
• Estonia has closed its negotiations on 19 chapters (no additional closure on Tuesday);
• Cyprus closed the "free movement of persons" chapter (but the transitional period of a maximum of seven years requested by the EU does not apply to this country), which brings the total number of closures to 22, and places Cyprus among the leading set of contenders with Hungary, as we mentioned yesterday;
• Malta has closed a total of 16 chapters (no new closure on Tuesday);
• Bulgaria closed the "company law" chapter on Tuesday: Total: 10 closures;
• Romania closed no additional chapter at Tuesday's session (6 closures in all);
• Latvia closed two additional chapters (free provision of services, social policy), taking its total to 15;
• Lithuania closed two chapters on Tuesday (free provision of services, fisheries). Total: 17 closures.

The results of these negotiating sessions, notably regarding Hungary and Cyprus, reinforce the Swedish Presidency's desire to provide a strong signal on enlargement at the European Council of Gothenburg. According to sources close to the Presidency, enlargement should finally be the main topic of this European Summit. The Presidency's ambition is to provide as clear as possible a "timeframe" that may be envisaged for the conclusion of negotiations with the more advanced countries, but the rounds by European Council President Goran Persson of the capitals before the Summit confirmed that Member States are not all that keen on the idea of including precise dates in the Gothenburg conclusions. Under these conditions, one can expect these conclusions simply to reiterate the Union's wish for negotiations to be completed in time to enable the citizens of those candidate countries which have made most progress in negotiations to participate in the European elections of June 2004, and also to contain a positive signal for countries that for now are lagging behind the most, Bulgaria and Romania.